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repeatedly; and I know that Captain Winter made arrangement with Mr. McParland, the contractor, to send in two extra cooks to camp, but he never did. I cannot say positively whether Captain Winter spoke to Colonel Sommerville about it. 494. What was the condition of the camp with regard to mud ? —Very bad. 495. Can you make any comparison with it?— Yes. We arrived there at 2 o'clock on the morning of Monday, the 17th June. It was raining slightly, and the mud was then right over our boot-tops. The adjutant showed me our horse-lines. They were so short that it was impossible to unsaddle your horse when you had it there. They were so close together that you had to back them out to get the saddles off. 496. That was on the Monday?— Yes. 497. On the Tuesday and Wednesday, what was the condition of things?—l spoke to Colonel Sommerville the next day about the place, and he agreed that it was not fit for the men to remain there, and consented to our shifting our lines on to the hill; and we did that after we came back to camp from parade on Monday afternoon—after the rehearsal. 498. In your opinion, was Newtown Park a fit place to hold the camp there at all?— Certainly not. 499. Why not ? —Because it was far too small for the number of men and horses there. I believe there were 850 horses and men, including the officers. There was no room to get to the horses on account of them being so close together, and the slush was such that it was hopeless to endeavour to keep yourself clean, because as soon as you stepped out of your tent you were just as bad again. 500. What was the officers' mess like ? — After the Tuesday I do not think there was much to complain of. The lighting was very insufficient; we only had a few candles stuck on bayonets. I believe a lamp was provided at the very last. 501. As far as the food was concerned at the officers' mess, was it cooked?— Yes. After Tuesday, I do not think there was much to complain of. 502. There were no luxuries, I suppose ? —No ; the food was very plain. 503. Colonel Davies.] Did you see anything of the procession that has been spoken of ?-—No, I did not see it. 504. Do you know any one who took part in it ? —No. I happened to be captain of the day at the time, so I could not leave camp. 505. Did the procession leave the camp?—l heard that it left the camp subsequently; but I am certain that the procession did not go out of the camp, because my tent was situated close to the entrance of the park, and I should have noticed it. 506. Do you remember Colonel Penton going up to the camp the aay after the procession?— I do. 507. Will you just state shortly what he did and said?— Colonel Penton came and addressed the officers first. He told them he blamed them very much for the occurrence, because he thought that if they had kept their men in hand it could not have happened. He then addressed the men generally. He admitted that they had had a good deal to put up with, that things were not so good as they might have been, and that during the first days of the camp they had borne themselves well; but that, owing to this stupid exhibition, they had disgraced their uniform, and he wished to find out who were the men who had taken part in it. The officers commanding the companies were then instructed to go round and inquire from every man if he had been present in the procession, and the answer came back "No " in every case. After the officers returned to the colonel with the reply that none of the men admitted being present in the procession, he turned to the men, and said, if a similar thing had happened in his service, the men would have had what soldiers call a barrack-room court-martial. He said that those who had taken part in the procession were not men enough to come forward and own up to it, and were a lot of infernal curs. I consider, if I am right in commenting on it, that the colonel was quite right. 508. You understood his remarks to apply to those men who took part in the procession, and did not own up to it when asked about it ?—Certainly; and to no one else. 509. What about the latrines : were they satisfactory ?—As far as they went they were ; but they were all situated on the one side at the far end of the camp, and, owing to the difficulty in getting there through the slush, the men did not trouble about going there. 510. How far were they from the cookhouse ? —I should estimate it from memory as perhaps a couple hundred of yards. It might have been 300 yards. 511. Was a guard mounted in the camp day and night ?—There was a guard mounted at 10 o'clock every morning, and also at night—at least, so far as our company was concerned, we furnished a guard every day. 512. You spoke of being an officer of the day : were you officer of the day for the brigaae or a battalion ? —Battalion. 513. How aia you get your oraers ?—From the battalion aajutant every morning—Lieutenant Colbourne. 514. Do you know who the brigaae staff were ?—No ; except that Colonel Sommerville was in command. I dia not know of anybody else. 515. You say that you were in Captain Winter's battalion?— Yes. 516. Had you battalion orders issued?— Yes; everyday. 517. And from those you issued company orders?— Yes. 518. Had you a battalion adjutant?— Yes. 519. And a battalion quartermaster? —Yes; Quartermaster Evans, of Gisborne. 520. You made formal complaints to Captain Winter, and he made formal complaints to Colonel Sommerville every day ?—Yes ; every day. 521. And on one occasion you say that Colonel Sommerville went down to try and put things right ? —I believe he went down every day on some business.